Historically, glass has been used as the preferred material for a wide variety of purposes, including packaging for foods, drinks, and pharmaceuticals because of its hermeticity, optical clarity, and excellent chemical durability relative to other materials. However, fast production of glass articles, such as glass containers, has been limited due to contamination of materials housed within glass articles by glass breakage involved in processing the glass articles.
Each glass article has its own specific technical specifications. For example, glass tubes require accurate dimensional tolerances, a low count of particulate, and a proper end profile to enable proper handling downstream and prevent breakage during transport. Residual particles from the tube making process are a critical sensitivity, specifically for pharmaceutical glass tube manufacturers.
Because each glass article generally has its unique specifications, different process steps are generally required to make and cut different glass articles, such as ampoules, vials, cartridges, syringes, etc. Consequently, glass article manufacturers have specific devices optimized and tailored to each specific glass article.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods for forming glass articles and associated apparatus to fabricate glass articles, specifically, glass cutting devices and methods which are suitable across a gamut of glass article components and shapes.